A famous metropolitan daily paper has the slogan; “All the news that’s fit to print” appears in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. Hence that little line seems to require a query: “What is fit to print?” The recent election cycle has probably seen more outright lies and salacious rubbish published than at any other time in our lifetime. Phony headlines, faux facts and false narratives have hurled insults, sullied reputations and even influenced peoples voting habits.
In a society that all agree is divided, what can a person who claims to be a Christian do to at least counteract if not correct this wave of distortion and deceit? First of all, we should recognize that dishonesty, written and spoken, is not “new news.” A cursory glance at the Scriptures will illustrate that fact, from the third chapter of Genesis when the satanic serpent told a whopper to Eve. “Go ahead; eat the fruit. Nothing will happen; you won’t die.” And we all know how that turned out. Peter lied when he denied Christ, and Ananias and Saphira lost their lives when they tried lying to the Holy Spirit. So it would seem that lying is really a big deal with God.
To lie is to purposely tell an untruth or just part of a true fact, with the intent to mislead. As a result, a “white lie” isn’t so white since truth isn’t a color. A half-truth isn’t partially true; it is less than the whole truth, thus a lie.
So what’s a soul to do? One of the best guides to aid one in discourse, whether written or verbal, is found in Philippians 4:8. “Finally, brethren (and you too, sistern), whatsoever is true, whatsoever is noble . . . right . . . pure . . . lovely . . . admirable . . . excellent and praiseworthy – think on these things.” And we dare add just a bit more to the inspired word: “And if you’re going to talk about these things, think about it first” and refer back to Rule 1 found in verse 8.”
As Christians living in a fallen world, we are subject to the same temptation to share a questionable article on Facebook that tears down some public figure we don’t like or support. We tweet and retweet the 140 word “bomblet” with little thought as to whether it is truth told with grace, or not. We “follow” people or publications that have small regard for the fact, thus becoming partners in their breaking of the Ninth Commandment.
We close with the same question: “So what is fit to print?” Let’s try using the Philippians four filter that starts out with “whatever is true” and ends with “think on these things,” and then speak.